Vitamin E may prevent pneumonia in non-smoking elderly men

A new study by Dr. Harri Hemila from the Univeristy of Helsinki shows that Vitamin E may prevent pneumonia in non-smoking elderly men. According to a paper published in Clinical Interventions in Aging, administration of 50mg per day of Vitamin E decreased the risk of pneumonia in elderly male smokers by 72% after they quit smoking.

The study proved that the age when the participant had started to smoke significantly modified the effect of Vitamin E on pneumonia. Vitamin E decreased the risk of pneumonia by 35% in 7,469 participants who started smoking at a later age, whereas the vitamin had no apparent effect on pneumonia for those who had started smoking at a younger age.

A third of the 7,469 participants has quit smoking for a period of time and 27 of them got pneumonia. These 27 cases can be used to estimate the effect that Vitamin E has on currently non-smoking males. The incidence of pneumonia was 72% lower in the participants who had quit smoking.

The vitamin did not show significant results on participants who smoking heavily or did not exercise.

Read the full article from Science Daily here.


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